Seconds
by treasurehuntingforever
Summary: Fred Weasley II, James Potter II and Molly Weasley II go off to start their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Follows their years at Hogwarts, where they find friendship and love in unexpected places.  Rated K   for now
1. Chapter 1

One's first day of school is always unimaginably stressful. Add the pressure of familial expectations, and it's a recipe for disappointment and tension.

Fred Weasley II was always supposed to be a Gryffindor. Always. His father was a Gryffindor, his mother was a Gryffindor, and his older cousin Victoire was a Gryffindor.

He sat on the Hogwarts Express, staring out the window with immense concentration and an exceptionally furrowed brow. His cousin, James Potter sat beside him, equally nervous, although admittedly he did not appear to be. He was stretched out lazily across the compartment, lounging and letting his eleven-year-old legs rest on the seat beside him.

"Aren't you nervous?" Fred asked James dubiously.

"Nope. Not one bit," James' shoulders rose a few inches and he bit his lip. Fred knew how to read the signs that indicated if his cousin was lying, and shoulder-shrugging and lip-biting were definitely on the list

"Well _I'm_ nervous," little Molly Weasley proclaimed from the corner of the compartment.

Fred and James rolled their eyes and sighed. They had been trying to ignore their other cousin for the duration of the trip, a task that was proving to be impossible. She sat, little legs also dangling, on the same bench as Fred, but she was closest to the door. She'd reserved that seat so that she could be the first off the train. Fred had always thought that she was slightly mental, but he'd never been able to say anything about it. Fred's mum had always told him to be nice to Uncle Percy and cousin Molly, but he'd heard his dad call Uncle Percy a nutter on several occasions.

Molly looked straight ahead of her resignedly, giving up on trying to converse with her cousins. James continued to lounge across from Fred and Molly, pretending she never spoke and opening Chocolate Frogs. Molly brushed her curly red-brown hair from her face and pushed her miniature horn-rimmed glasses further up her nose as she checked her watch. Fred wished he could see what time it was, but there was no way he was going to ask Molly.

And with familiar, distracted ease, Fred Filius Weasley II went right back to worrying about which house he would be sorted into.

When the trio finally arrived at Hogwarts, Molly bounded to her feet. Fred eased himself up, feeling like fainting, while James stayed seated and looked rather pale. His nervousness was finally showing. Fred offered James a hand to help him up, which his cousin seemed to accept grudgingly. The three exited the compartment, Molly in the lead, to pile out onto the platform. Once there, they saw the huge limping figure of Rubeus Hagrid approach out of the steam from the train.

Fred grinned briefly at the sight of a familiar face, as they started off towards the boats.

He and James caught up with fellow-first years Lorcan and Lysander Scamander. Little Molly lagged behind to walk with Adeline Hagrid, an exceptionally tall first year girl (not surprising, being born to two half-giants).

Fred and James kicked pebbles as they walked; trying desperately not to laugh at the Scamander boys' crazy notions of how to determine the outcome of a Quidditch match by studying the Nargles that live on the pitch. They sobered up instantly as they clambered into the self-rowing boats and saw the castle emerge from the fog.

None of the things Fred had ever heard of Hogwarts matched up to what he saw now, gliding across the black water in the moonlight. It was enormous and majestic, and the windows looked like millions of tiny candles under the blanket of the midnight sky. He stared in awe, and heard James exhale loudly beside him as Lorcan and Lysander continued to babble about Nargles.

When they finally reached the castle, Fred felt his stomach drop and his breathing hitch. _What if he wasn't sorted into Gryffindor?_

A tall woman with silvery hair and an emerald green cloak, who Fred recognized as Professor McGonagall, approached t he children as they climbed hastily and clumsily from the boats. She started speaking to them, addressing herself as the Headmistress of Hogwarts, but Fred couldn't seem to hear what she was saying after that point. He heard only the pounding of his heart inside his head. Fred scratched his palm nervously as he tried to make sense of his thoughts. His heart pounding inside his _head_? They'd sort him into Hufflepuff for sure. Which was better than Slytherin.

Suddenly, the crowd of first-years started to move around him, and he was pushed and prodded along into the Great Hall, past the inquiring, expectant eyes of the other students. He saw the reassuring face of Teddy Lupin among them, who winked at Fred and nodded in encouragement. Taking a deep breath, Fred pulled himself together and stood, waiting for the "W" names to finally be called for sorting.

Samantha Ackerly, a plump blonde girl, was sorted into Ravenclaw. Archie Aubrey, a gangly boy with many freckles, was sorted into Hufflepuff. Fred zoned in and out of the Sorting, focusing only on a few familiar names.

Cedric Corner was sorted into Gryffindor before the hat had time to touch his longer-than-average black hair. Caleb Creevey became a Gryffindor. Muggle-born Daphne Dursley became a Ravenclaw, much to Fred and James' apparent surprise. The first Slytherin was Miles Edgecombe, who had a terrible acne problem. Another Slytherin was sorted soon after; Galinda Goyle. Adeline Hagrid was sorted into Gryffindor, and Mr. Hagrid clapped happily as his daughter joined his old house. Lucas Jordan became a Gryffindor also, and grinned so widely Fred thought his face might split open. An audible gasp came from the audience when Lyra Malfoy was sorted into Gryffindor, and even McGonagall's hand flew to her mouth in shock. When McGonagall finally called James up to be sorted, Fred patted him on the back half-jokingly and winked. James strolled confidently forward, but Fred noticed how his hands were balled into fists. Another sign. The hat fell over James' head of dark red hair and almost covered his eyes. The Hall was completely silent for a moment, then the hat roared "Gryffindor!". Fred clapped his numb hands, and felt a knot form in his stomach as James stumbled in relief over to join Teddy Lupin at the Gryffindor table.

Then, Lorcan Scamander was sorted into Ravenclaw, and Lysander became a Gryffindor. The two twins looked lost for words for the first time in their lives as they joined separate tables. Zacarias Shunpike became a Hufflepuff. Rita Tavers, who had brilliant green streaks in her black hair, became a Slytherin quite happily. Before Fred was ready, he heard his name called. He noticed a tear slide out of the corner of McGonagall's eye, and wondered at the cause as he sat on the stool and the Hat slid over his eyes. The Sorting Hat's voice invaded his mind unexpectedly.

_Hmm... Fred Weasley. The second. I remember your uncle. He was a Gryffindor. Your mind is much like your father's, though. More logical, more rational. I wanted to sort him into Ravenclaw, but he refused. So…. Where to put you?_

Fred thought with all his might; "_Gryffindor. Gryffindor… it's all I have… please. Gryffindor. I can't be away from James. I'd never hear the end of it."_ In that instant, Fred realized how close he and James had become over the years. They were more like brothers than cousins. More like _twin_ brothers.

And as the Sorting Hat roared out his house, Fred sighed with relief. As the Hat was pulled off his head, he could see James standing on the bench, high above everyone else, clapping and cheering.

Fred walked over and squeezed into the table where he belonged, to James' right and to Teddy's left. Teddy welcomed him with a clap on the back, and James discretely lifted his plate and showed Fred something that had been carved into the old wooden table.

_James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Sorted 1971_

And underneath, seemingly unrelated and separate:

_Fred and George Weasley, Sorted 1989_

Fred stared in awe as he heard his cousin Molly be sorted into Gryffindor. He clapped absentmindedly as she walked over and took a seat across from them. "What are you boys staring at?" she asked.

"Nothing that concerns _you_." the boys chimed in unison.

"Fine. I'll have you know, then, that I'm not letting you copy off me."

James scoffed, and Fred snorted.

This was going to be a great year.


	2. Chapter 2

Fred sat on the edge of his bed in the dormitory, pondering the events of the day. He and Molly and James had every single class together, which was both wonderful and terrible. He loved having James in all his classes, but Molly was unbearable. Her hand shot up high in the sky every time the teacher asked a question, even a rhetorical one. He and James avoided her at all costs, attempting to make friends with the other students in their classes.

On this first day of classes, everyone was pushing past Fred to get to James, asking him to answer their prying questions about his dad. Fred had sat back glumly, watching James bask in the spotlight. In Herbology class, which they had with the Hufflepuffs, and Archie Aubery was the only person who seemed equally interested in what Fred had to say. Zacarias Shunpike and Cedric Corner had become fast friends, and they were poking fun at Fred's braided hair, asking him why he would want to look like he had tiny worms coming out of his head. Fred was fuming by the time he returned to the common room with James, who seemed to sense his frustration. James tried to talk to Fred about it, but he ignored his best friend. He just needed to sleep. He had an interesting enough day ahead of him…

Tomorrow they had double Potions with the Slytherins. And the afternoon was to be filled with double Charms with the Ravenclaws.

Fred resisted the impulse to throw something, and he put on his pajamas and hopped under the burgundy covers.

* * *

The next morning, Fred was awakened by the disruptive sensation of having one's covers yanked off. He opened his eyes groggily and glanced around him. James came into focus, blankets in hand. After throwing a few choice words at his cousin, Fred rolled out of bed reluctantly. James threw the covers back on the bed and clapped his friend on the back.

"C'mon, mate. Don't be such a grouch. We're at Hogwarts!" James said this last sentence insistently, running a lightly freckled hand through his dark red hair in an attempt to flatten it.

"Thank you, captain obvious," Fred retorted, shrugging James' arm off his back and stretching.

James grinned and turned to get dressed.

* * *

Fred was now convinced that the dislike between Gryffindors and Slytherins was unavoidable. Despite his parents' sad attempts at impartiality, they had still managed to relay quite a few stories to taint Fred's opinion of the Slytherin house. His potions class only confirmed that tainted opinion.

Professor Slughorn had the class pair up and practice using their cauldrons and vials properly, and walked about the class with his enormous belly paving the way, asking questions here and there to see who knew the most. He kept a close eye on a few of the potentially very bright witches and wizards in the class – particularly Lysander who, for all his faults, proved to be exceptionally talented at potionmaking.

All this was not enough to distract Fred from the Slytherin's nasty habits. Within the first ten five minutes of class, Galinda Goyle had managed to insult Fred's family and set her own cauldron on fire. Halfway through class, Miles Edgecombe caught Fred and James trading Chocolate Frog cards under the table and immediately ran to tell Slughorn, who shrugged rather uninterestedly at the news, focusing on Lysander's cauldron. The worst part came at the end of class, when Rita Tavers brushed her green-streaked hair over her shoulder smugly and turned to question James on what it felt like to have a father who let so many people die for him. James' dark eyes flashed dangerously, but before he could open his mouth to answer her, the bell rang and Rita rushed away with her friends, laughing.

James sat rooted in his seat, staring into the smoldering depths of his cauldron. Fred could tell that he was holding back both tears and a terrible rage. He reached out and grasped James' shoulder firmly, steering him away from his cauldron and packing up their belongings as he went. Molly followed the pair out silently, obviously biting back the urge to say something. On their way to Charms, James finally relaxed his jaw and sighed resignedly before saying what the pair were both thinking. "I guess we'll never be able to escape their shadows."

Fred smiled sadly in agreement, and saw Molly nod quietly out of the corner of his eye. He knew what James had said was exactly right. After all, how could he make a name for himself after the world had already been set right? Who could be the hero of this generation, or the next, or the one after that? There they were walking the halls, each named for a person they felt they could never measure up to. Molly was named for an unmentioned hero of the Battle of Hogwarts, Fred was named for a brave soul lost in that battle, and James was named for his grandfather, who perished saving the hero of the wizarding world. They were all "seconds", and always would be.


End file.
